Podcasts about renaissance learning

Meet Michelle Singh, an extraordinary entrepreneur with a wealth of experience in education, ranging from classroom teaching to district leadership. As a former classroom teacher, curriculum specialist, and current adjunct professor, Michelle possesses an in-depth understanding of the intricacies within the education system. Currently pursuing her doctoral degree in organizational leadership at Nova Southeastern University, she is driven to excel in her field. Michelle's expertise is unparalleled, boasting multiple certifications, including the esteemed National Board for Professional Teaching Standards. With nearly five years as a district leader and 15 years of dedicated service in the fourth largest school district in the USA, Michelle has made an indelible impact on the world of education. Her versatile roles, from nurturing gifted students to leading departments and training teachers in technology integration, have bestowed her with a profound comprehension of the needs of students, parents, teachers, administrators, and district leaders. Throughout her career, Michelle encountered the challenge of meeting assessment benchmarks amidst limited resources. Her ability to transcend these obstacles, catering to the needs of all students and propelling their achievements beyond district and state assessment scores, distinguishes her as a true educational pioneer. This drive and passion led to the creation of LCT-E Learning Solutions™ and the groundbreaking EQUAL Methodology™. By placing diversity, equity, and inclusion at the forefront, Michelle transforms classrooms into innovative spaces that cultivate a profound appreciation for learning. ​Michelle's expertise is sought after by notable clients and organizations, including Microsoft, Renaissance Learning, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, and Miami Dade College, among many other prominent corporations and educational institutions. Her insights have also enriched the minds of international educators across the Caribbean and the Middle East. A best-selling author, Michelle's book "Educational Continuity During Uncertainty: Online Learning Considerations for Educators" has proven invaluable, especially during the challenging times of the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents and teachers alike have found solace in her guidance for achieving continuity in virtual learning environments. Adding to her impressive repertoire, Michelle's latest book, the "Equity & Excellence in Teaching Reflective Journal," is a go-to resource for creating inclusive spaces and addressing educational disparities. Passionate educators striving to empower all students will find this journal a key to unlocking their full potential and fostering a brighter future.  

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/latin-american-studies

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/native-american-studies

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Andrew Laird, of Brown University, discusses Aztec Latin: Renaissance Learning and Nahuatl Traditions in Early Colonial Mexico (Oxford University Press, 2024). In 1536, only fifteen years after the fall of the Aztec empire, Franciscan missionaries began teaching Latin, classical rhetoric, and Aristotelian philosophy to native youths in central Mexico. The remarkable linguistic and cultural exchanges that would result from that initiative are the subject of this book. Aztec Latin highlights the importance of Renaissance humanist education for early colonial indigenous history, showing how practices central to humanism — the cultivation of eloquence, the training of leaders, scholarly translation, and antiquarian research — were transformed in New Spain to serve Indian elites as well as the Spanish authorities and religious orders. While Franciscan friars, inspired by Erasmus' ideal of a common tongue, applied principles of Latin grammar to Amerindian languages, native scholars translated the Gospels, a range of devotional literature, and even Aesop's fables into the Mexican language of Nahuatl. They also produced significant new writings in Latin and Nahuatl, adorning accounts of their ancestral past with parallels from Greek and Roman history and importing themes from classical and Christian sources to interpret pre-Hispanic customs and beliefs. Aztec Latin reveals the full extent to which the first Mexican authors mastered and made use of European learning and provides a timely reassessment of what those indigenous authors really achieved.

Send us a Text Message.Andrew Goldman joined HMH in 2024 when HMH acquired Writable, where he, as Co-Founder and CEO, oversaw business and product strategy. Andrew joined HMH as the EVP of HMH Labs, a newly formed division that pursues innovative product development through a highly cross-functional team structure. Previously, he was the Founder and CEO of Subtext, Inc., a collaborative learning company that was acquired by Renaissance Learning. Before entering the EdTech industry, Andrew was the CEO and Co-Founder of Pandemic Studios, a leading game development studio that was ultimately acquired by Electronic Arts. Andrew received his BA in Political Science from Brown and earned his Master's in Human-Computer Interaction from NYU. Andrew was a member of the U.S. Olympic sailing team in 1988.Recommended Resources:

Christopher Fricker is a senior director in analytics and BI at Renaissance Learning. He started his career in finance and later became a data science consultant working with Meta, Netflix, and pre-IPO tech companies doing analytics. We talked about the mental models that helped him grow from a finance analyst to an analytics leader. Subscribe to Daliana's newsletter on ⁠www.dalianaliu.com⁠ for more on data science and career. Chris' LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherfricker/ Daliana's Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/DalianaLiu⁠ Daliana's LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/dalianaliu/⁠ (00:00:00) Introduction (00:01:45) How to get promoted quickly (00:08:40) Power vs authority (00:11:21) First principal thinking (00:32:38) ROI of a data team (00:41:01) How to be persuasive (00:55:27) All Data is wrong (00:56:57) How he audits the data (01:01:28) How to make someone help you at work

An Associated Press (AP) analysis of public records found many of the largest school systems spent tens of millions of dollars in pandemic money on software and services from tech companies, including licenses for apps, games, and tutoring websites. Schools, however, have little or no evidence the programs helped students. Some of the new software was rarely used. The AP asked the nation's 30 largest school districts for contracts funded by federal pandemic aid. About half provided records illuminating an array of software and technology, collectively called “edtech.” Clark County schools in the Las Vegas area, for one, signed contracts worth at least $70 million over two years with 12 education technology consultants and companies. They include Achieve3000 (for a suite of learning apps), Age of Learning (for math and reading acceleration), Paper (for virtual tutoring), and Renaissance Learning (for learning apps Freckle and MyON). “That money went to a wide variety of products and services, but it was not distributed on the basis of merit or equity or evidence,” said Bart Epstein, founder and former CEO of EdTech Evidence Exchange, a nonprofit that helps schools make the most of their technology. “It was distributed almost entirely on the strength of marketing, branding, and relationships.” The Education Department urges schools to use technology with a proven track record and offers a rating system to assess a product's evidence. The lowest tier is a relatively easy target: Companies must “demonstrate a rationale” for the product, with plans to study its effectiveness. Yet studies find the vast majority of popular products fail to hit even that mark. Some districts plan to pull back contracts that didn't work and expand those that did. Some Las Vegas parents say software shouldn't be a priority in a district with issues including aging buildings and more than 1,100 teacher vacancies. “What's the point of having all this software in place when you don't even have a teacher to teach the class? It doesn't make sense,” said Lorena Rojas, who has two teens in the district. Chris Ryan, a former edtech marketer, said that at the end of the day, no technology can guarantee results. “It's like the Wild West, figuring this out,” he said. “And if you take a huge step back, what really works is direct instruction with a kid.” This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Dr. Robert R. Zywicki is a seasoned executive with a successful track record of pedagogical ROI, shrewd fiscal stewardship, and transformational change management. Dr. Zywicki is the Senior Director of Strategic Community Partnerships for Renaissance Learning, an industry leading global EdTech firm that ensures the acceleration of ALL students via multi-tiered systems of support.

I had a great chat with Dr. Gene Kerns, the Vice-President and Chief Academic Officer of Renaissance Learning. Gene is a third-generation educator with teaching experience from elementary through the university level and K-12 administrative experience. He currently serves as Vice President and Chief Academic Officer of Renaissance Learning.  With nearly 20 years of experience in leading staff development and speaking at national and international conferences, his former clients include administrators' associations across the country and the Ministry of Education of Singapore. Gene received his Bachelor's Degree and Master's Degree from Longwood College in Virginia, and also holds a Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) from the University of Delaware with an emphasis in Education Leadership. He is the author of 3 books on educational topics. About Renaissance ⁠Learn more about Renaissance and their “See Every Student” brand transformation. Renaissance Learning combines assessment, instruction, and insights—all while keeping teachers at the center of classroom decisions. Explore the tools that are integrated within and learn more about the Star Assessments to Nearpod connection. Links to Renaissance site, blog, and so many resources for educators and families. Renaissance Learning⁠ ⁠Renaissance Blog Posts⁠ Renaissance Focus Skills Renaissance Webinars Renaissance on LinkedIn Renaissance Twitter Renaissance YouTube - videos, webinars

Welcome back to Scaling UP! H2O, where we have the pleasure of hosting Tim Cooper, Principal Consultant at The Table Group and founder of Cooper Coaching. With over 15 years of Team Leadership experience and an impressive client list, including Renaissance Learning, Chick-fil-A, Southern New Hampshire University, and Ørsted, Tim brings a wealth of knowledge to the table. In this captivating episode, Tim delves into the fascinating world of The 6 Types of Working Genius. These six distinct gifts are essential for any group striving to achieve their goals: The Genius of Wonder, The Genius of Invention, The Genius of Discernment, The Genius of Galvanizing, The Genius of Enablement, and The Genius of Tenacity. Discover what these Working Geniuses are and how you can leverage this understanding to enhance your leadership skills, teamwork, and personal growth. Tim's approach to consulting is driven by building strong relationships and addressing challenging interpersonal dynamics within the teams he supports. With a focus on cultivating healthier relationships within executive teams that positively impact the entire organization, Tim's expertise is unrivaled. Passionate about the intersection of Organization Health and the interplay between Smart and Healthy Organizations, Tim considers The 6 Types of Working Genius the ultimate tool for boosting team morale, productivity, and overall organizational health. Join us now as Tim shares practical insights that will empower you to become a better version of yourself and lead your teams to unprecedented success. Bottom line: Healthy teams result in higher productivity. Tim Cooper will take listeners on a deep dive to learn how they can use The 6 Types of Working Genius to promote Organization Health .   Timestamps Trace Blackmore challenges you to take the first step in the right direction[1:00] Returning guest Tim Cooper shares how The 6 Types of Working Genius promote Organization Health, prevent burn out, show where gaps are in our projects, and allow everyone on your team to do what they love so they can do more together [7:00]  Lightning Round Questions [1:08:20] Defining a healthy team and organization [1:11:00] Upcoming Events for Water Treatment Professionals [1:18:00] Periodic Water Table With James McDonald [1:20:00]   Quotes “What's the healthiest, most sustainable way to work for the long-haul?” - Tim Cooper “The work I do helps teams get over the ‘invisible walls' that they bump into and don't realize they're doing so because those ‘invisible walls' are the things that are hardest to identify, so Working Genius is one of those things that makes those walls visible and helps us to understand how to work better with each other, which just makes for a better work environment all around. It's about getting work done.” - Tim Cooper “When something is a frustration, we tend to shortcut or really shortchange how much work is required to get that stuff done. One way to solve this is to surround yourself with people that are great at that thing that frustrates you so I don't pull those shortcuts often and sacrifice the quality of work.” - Tim Cooper “When you are working on a project and skip a stage, you skip people. When you skip people at work, they feel skipped at work. Nobody wants to feel skipped over at work. People don't leave jobs because the strategies are off or the tech isn't as good as it is somewhere else, they leave jobs for emotional reasons. They leave when they feel skipped over, or the workplace is too confusing, or they don't know what their role is, or how to feel successful in the workplace.” - Tim Cooper  “Organizational Health is a condition not a destination. We're never going to get there, but you can be moving in the direction of it starting now.” - Tim Cooper    Connect with Tim Cooper Phone: 678.327.7460 Email: tim.cooper@tablegroupconsulting.com Website: www.tablegroup.com https://www.workinggenius.com/ LinkedIn: in/tim-cooper-80bab0143 company/thetablegroup Read or Download Tim Cooper's Press Release HERE Know your and your team's Working Genius! – Buy the Assessment Now! The 6 Types of Working Genius book: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni   Links Mentioned Episode 259 The One About The 6 Types of Working Genius with Tim Cooper The Rising Tide Mastermind Scaling UP! H2O Academy video courses Submit a Show Idea AWT (Association of Water Technologies)   2023 Events for Water Professionals Check out our Scaling UP! H2O Events Calendar where we've listed every event Water Treaters should be aware of by clicking HERE or using the dropdown menu.   Books Mentioned The 6 Types of Working Genius by Patrick Lencioni The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni I Said This, You Heard That by Kathleen Edelman   Periodic Water Table With James McDonald Okay, I almost always ask this, but what is Polyaluminum Chloride used for? What is its chemical formula? Does Polyaluminum Chloride come in a solid or liquid form? What does it remove? How does it compare to other aluminum compounds? What dosages or ratios are recommended? What could happen if you overfeed Polyaluminum Chloride? What could be the impact downstream?    

Dr. Scott McConnell has been a teacher, program director, researcher and college professor interested in preschool and early elementary education for more than 40 years. Scott is a professor emeritus of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota and Director of Assessment Innovation at Renaissance Learning. Prior to joining Renaissance, Scott was part of a multi-university team that developed Individual Growth and Development Indicators, and he's conducted research on their use in preschool classrooms. His professional interests focus on young children's paths to becoming proficient readers, and the ways that systematic interventions like multi-tiered systems of support can help all children achieve that goal. He earned his bachelor's degree in psychology at Portland State University and his master's degree in school psychology and PhD in educational psychology at the University of Oregon. Scott lives in Minnesota, and he and his wife Laurie Davis are parents of four adult children.

Alicia Quan chats with the VP of User Experience at Renaissance Learning, Jonathan Mann. They discuss what design representation looks like there and take a look at the company's journey towards design maturity in the midst of making acquisitions and merging into one team and organization. As a former design leader at PayPal and Target, Jonathan shares what he has learned about the unique considerations found in the education industry. This is Part 5 of the Design Maturity Series. How do leaders build design maturity in their teams and across their EdTech company? What are the challenges and what benefits are in store? Stay tuned. ——

Today's episode is with Sidharth Kakkar, founder and CEO of Subscript, a subscription intelligence platform that empowers B2B SaaS leaders to better understand their revenue. (Read more about the company in this Techcrunch article.) Previously, he was the founder, CEO of Freckle, an education platform that grew to serve 10 million students and was acquired by Renaissance Learning in 2019. As a repeat founder, Sidharth picked up a ton of valuable lessons, particularly when it comes to company culture and management. Right from the start, he knew he wanted to build Subscript to be global, distributed, and asynchronous. That's why there are no internal company meetings. Everyone also operates autonomously, deciding what to work on for themselves. We dive into both the philosophy behind this unique approach and the nitty gritty details of how exactly it works in practice. Here's a preview: How to share company updates asynchronously every week. Advice on how to approach goal-setting and performance feedback, while minimizing micromanagement. Tips for improving transparency and documentation, plus details on Subscript's running product/market fit journal.  Thoughts on how to assess asynchronous communication skills when hiring. How this culture impacts a founder's role and schedule. There's tons of food for thought in here, whether you're a founder thinking about shaping your company culture, or a manager looking for some fresh ideas.  You can follow Sidharth on Twitter at @sikakkar. You can email us questions directly at review@firstround.com or follow us on Twitter @firstround and @brettberson.

Long-time listeners of the podcast know that I enjoy learning about leadership and self-development. I have had many guests on the podcast that introduced me to tools  and today's guest has a tool which I know will help your team and all of your relationships. My lab partner is Tim Cooper. He is a Principal Consultant at The Table Group and the founder and president of Cooper Consulting. Tim has over 15 years of Team Leadership experience in his partnership with The Table Group. His clients include executives from Renaissance Learning, Chick-fil-A, Southern New Hampshire University, and Ørsted. Tim describes his approach to consulting as relational, particularly in tackling difficult interpersonal dynamics with the teams he serves. His specialties include building healthier relationships within executive teams that cascade throughout the organization. In this episode, Tim will talk about The 6 Types of Working Genius. These are 6 different types of gifts that are required of any group of people trying to get something done: The Genius of Wonder, The Genius of Invention, The Genius of Discernment, The Genius of Galvanizing, The Genius of Enablement, and The Genius of Tenacity. If you don't know what the 6 Working Geniuses are, after this episode, you will learn what they are and how you can use this knowledge to lead, be part of a team successfully, and be a better version of yourself. Tim loves talking about anything that has to do with Organization Health and the interplay between Smart and Healthy Organizations, and The 6 Types of Working Genius is the best tool he has come across that can help teams and individuals raise team morale, productivity, and organization health.  Bottom line: Tim will tell us what the 6 Types of Working Geniuses are and how knowing these Geniuses can create better organizational health. Your roadside friend, as you travel from client to client.  -Trace    Timestamps:  Running a business, facilitating team meetings, and upcoming events [01:44] Welcoming The Table Group's Tim Cooper [09:53] Introducing The 6 Types of Working Genius [14:28] Preventing burnout by knowing your Working Genius [20:49] Working together as a Team to create success in the three stages of a project: Ideation, Activation, Implementation [28:14] Assessments are about awareness, not permission [31:55] Understanding the Pain Points on a team and inviting the right people to the right meetings [37:05] Hiring the best people for a role using the Working Genius [45:56] Thinking On Water With James [1:01:01]    Thinking On Water With James: In this week's episode, we're thinking about a salt bridge in a water softener system. What is a salt bridge?  How do you know if you have one? What impact can it have on a water softener? How do you remove a salt bridge? How can it be prevented in the future? Take this week to think about salt bridges in water softener systems.    Quotes: “Two of the big components of a healthy organization are high morale and high productivity, and the Working Genius is the tool that is best at raising both of those.” - Tim Cooper “The Working Genius is 80% a production tool and 20% a personality tool.” - Tim Cooper “The Wonder Genius are the people that ponder the possibilities of greater potential and opportunity.” - Tim Cooper “The Invention Genius are the ones that create original and novel ideas and solutions.” - Tim Cooper “The Discernment Genius are the ones that are using their intuition and their gut-feel.” - Tim Cooper “The Galvanizing Genius are the people that get people moving.” - Tim Cooper “The Genius of Enablement is the most relational of all Geniuses. They are the ones that ask, ‘How can I help?'” - Tim Cooper “The Genius of Tenacity are the people that are all about execution.” - Tim Cooper “If you get to spend most of your time focusing on the things that bring you energy and fulfillment, it hardly feels like work.” - Tim Cooper “Burnout is not really too much work, it's too much of the wrong kind of work.”-  Tim Cooper “The best leader is a self-aware leader.” -  Tim Cooper “We need to be really kind when operating in people's competencies or frustrations. And we need to be really generous when giving people opportunities to lean into their geniuses.” - Tim Cooper “We are breaking projects down into three stages: Ideation, Activation, Implementation.” - Tim Cooper “When you skip over a project stage, you're not only skipping a stage of work, you're skipping over people who are trying to bring their best to the team.” - Tim Cooper “Assessments are about awareness, not about permission. It is not permission for me to just be more of who I am, this is about awareness so that I can become a better version of myself.“ - Tim Cooper “The Working Genius is a production tool. It is the art of getting work done, both individually and on a team.” - Tim Cooper “An Assessment can't tell you what brings you the most joy and fulfillment, it's up to you to answer that.”  - Tim Cooper “Work doesn't have to suck. Work can be fulfilling and bring you joy. Work does not have to be the thing that you dread.” - Tim Cooper   Connect with Tim Cooper: Phone: 678.327.7460 Email: tim.cooper@tablegroupconsulting.com Website: www.tablegroup.com Facebook: @TableGroupInc LinkedIn: in/tim-cooper-80bab0143 company/thetablegroup Know your and your team's Working Genius! - Buy the Assessment Now! Pre-order The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni   Links Mentioned:  Know your and your team's Working Genius! - Buy the Assessment Now! The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni Listen to ALL the Pairings... Finally from The Working Genius Podcast with Patrick Lencioni Ask Trace Blackmore to Facilitate your Meetings by going to scalinguph2o.com/coach 045 The One That Brings Your Team Together  The Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast | Business Podcast 117 The One With Temperament Expert, Kathleen Edelman The Rising Tide Mastermind   Events: The Hang Networking Event – July 14, 2022, @ 6:00 p.m. EST American Water Works Association's Transformative Issues Symposium – August 1 to 3, 2022 in  Cincinnati, Ohio International Water Association's World Water Congress & Exhibition – September 11 to 15, 2022 in Copenhagen, Denmark The International Water Conference – November 6 to 10, 2022 in Orlando, Florida      Books Mentioned: The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else In Business by Patrick Lencioni Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable...About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni The Ideal Team Player: How to Recognize and Cultivate The Three Essential Virtues by Patrick Lencioni Pre-order The 6 Types of Working Genius: A Better Way to Understand Your Gifts, Your Frustrations, and Your Team by Patrick Lencioni I Said This, You Heard That by Kathleen Edelman  

The past ~15 years have seen a massive boom in the American economy. Newer companies have only known a time of plenty and hyper-growth.Now, many founders and leaders find themselves facing new and uncharted territory.How do they weather a recession?We talked to Ryan Blackwell, CRO at Renaissance Learning. His advice? Focus on the fundamentals. We unpacked the “fundamentals cake” layer by layer.It starts with understanding your mission, your people, your customers, and thinking inside the box. Listen in before we spoil the rest.More information about our guest, Ryan Blackwell:LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryblackwell/Company Website: https://www.renaissance.com Meet us here every other week, and we promise to keep it spicy for you. Find Revenue Innovators onApple Podcasts,Spotify, our website, or anywhere you get podcasts.Email us with feedback and guest suggestions at revenue.innovators@outreach.io.

The past ~15 years have seen a massive boom in the American economy. Newer companies have only known a time of plenty and hyper-growth. Now, many founders and leaders find themselves facing new and uncharted territory. How do they weather a recession? We talked to Ryan Blackwell, CRO at Renaissance Learning. His advice? Focus on the fundamentals. We unpacked the “fundamentals cake” layer by layer. It starts with understanding your mission, your people, your customers, and thinking inside the box. Listen in before we spoil the rest. More information about our guest, Ryan Blackwell: LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryblackwell/ Company Website: https://www.renaissance.com  Meet us here every other week, and we promise to keep it spicy for you. Find Revenue Innovators onApple Podcasts,Spotify, our website, or anywhere you get podcasts. Email us with feedback and guest suggestions at revenue.innovators@outreach.io.

John Katzman is the founder and CEO of Noodle. Prior to getting it right, he founded and ran 2U, which is also involved in online learning, and The Princeton Review, which helps students find, get into, and pay for higher ed. Katzman is the co-author of five books, and has served as a director of several for- and non-profits, including Carnegie Learning, Renaissance Learning, the National Association of Independent Schools, the Institute for Citizens & Scholars, and the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.This episode is brought to you by N2N's Illuminate App, The iPaaS for Higher Education. Learn more at https://illuminateapp.com/web/higher-education/Subscribe and listen to more episodes at IlluminateHigherEducation.comLearn more about Noodle Inc: https://partners.noodle.com/Get in contact with John Katzman: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jkatzmanTo watch this keynote, please visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jk9W9Se11Z8&t=106s

On this week's Education Gadfly Show podcast (listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify), Christy Wolfe, vice president for policy and planning at the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, joins Mike Petrilli to discuss how new regulations proposed by the Biden administration could stunt the growth of charter schools across America. Then, on the Research Minute, Amber Northern examines a survey of student reading habits in grades K–12.You can find this and every episode on all major podcast platforms, as well as share it with friends.Recommended content:Christy's piece criticizing the proposed regulations: “Biden administration's proposed rules for Charter School Program empower districts at the expense of communities.”The study that Amber reviewed on the Research Minute: Yangsook Choi et al., “What Kids Are Reading: 2022 Edition,” Renaissance Learning, Inc. (2022).Feedback welcome!Have ideas or feedback on our podcast? Send them to our podcast producer Pedro Enamorado at penamorado@fordhaminstitute.org.

As it's World Book Day this Thursday, we thought we'd take you back to January's Parents' show where we explore how we can get our kids reading more and hear from a local book retailer. We speak to Margaret Allen, Curriculum and Education Specialist at Renaissance Learning who have the well-known programme Accelerated Reader as part of their offering. We will be speaking about how important reading is. Then we speak to Mr Jack Pettitt from Verulam School who will be providing incredible practical advice on supporting your child's reading. Finally, we will speak to Books on the Hill about what they are doing to get us reading in 2022! Tune in from 8-9pm on Thursday. Rayden Solicitors sponsor the Parents' Show.

Episode 071: Special Guest, Kris Hackbusch, Principal Reno High School Check out our patreon page and become a supporter—early access to all episodes, fun videos, polls, exclusives…it’s all on patreon.   Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter here. Questions we asked Principal Hackbusch What do you love about being Principal of this School?  How does coaching inform your leadership style?  You had a big reading year last year - how many books?  What kinds of books did you read last year?  Do you have a personal reading goal for this year?  Why does reading matter in your adult life and how does it impact you positively?  What are your favorite sports picks? Reno High School Equity Team Book Club Recommendations  Stamped From the Beginning by Ibram X. Kendi White Privilege: Essential Readings on the Other Side of Racism by Paula S. Rothenberg White Fragility: Why its so Hard for White People to Talk about Racism by Robin DiAngelo and Michael Eric Dyson A Repair Kit for Grading: 15 Fixes for Broken Grades by Ken O'Connor Grading for Equity: What it is, Why it Matters, and How It Can transform Schools and Classrooms by Joe Feldman  Principal Hackbusch's Favorites For Kids  The Secret of Terror Castle (The Three Investigators #1) by Robert Arthur Hardy Boys Starter Set - Books 1-5 by Franklin W. Dixon The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell  The Giver by Louis Lowry Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston The Odyssey by Homer  Principal Hackbusch's Spy / Thriller Favorites The Terminal List by Jack Carr  The Grey Man by Mark Greaney Gunmetal Gray by Mark Greaney Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton State of Fear by Michael Crichton Prey by Michael Crichton Patriot Games by Tom Clancy  American Assassin: Mitch Rapp book 1 by Vince Flynn American Sniper by Chris Kyle  Principal Hackbusch's Sports Favorites Sacred Hoops: Spiritual Lessons of a Hardwood Warrior by Phil Jackson and Hugh Delehanty  Life on the Run by Bill Bradley Driven: My Unlikely Journey from Classroom to Cage by Charlie Brenneman  Principal Hackbusch's Leadership Role Book Recommendations The Dichotomy of Leadership: Balancing The Challenges of Extremem Ownership to Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin The Starbuck's Experience: 5 Principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary by Joseph A. Michelli Award Winning Culture: Building School-Wide Intentionality and Action Through Character, Excellence, and Community by Hans Appel We Can All Do Better by Bill Bradley Other Books Mentioned Angels & Demons by Dan Brown Origin by Dan Brown Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin The Stand by Stephen King Media Mentioned Game of Thrones Series Accelerated Reader and Star Testing Info We briefly talked about using two products from Renaissance Learning. One is Star Testing that gives students a reading comprehension test that gives them a reading level (grade and month) and a ZPD (zone of proximal development) of what level books they should be reading to improve their reading ability. Renaissance Learning is expensive and not the only product available but one that our school district uses. .

Can you design an experience for someone else? Jonathan Mann, the Vice President of User Experience at Renaissance Learning says, “Umm, not really.” Prior to joining Renaissance, Jonathan led user experience teams at Target Corporation and PayPal. And as a practitioner, he’s always valued good research to help him, and his teams, deliver better work. Our discussion centered around the question, “is it possible to design an experience?” Jonathan’s research discovered that “an experience” is more than just what we think of as the element that happens in the moment we consider it an experience. Jonathan reminded us that the totality of “an experience” combines three key elements: the anticipation of the experience, the experience itself, and the memory of the experience. A vacation is a great example of this: we plan and anticipate lots of experiences before we arrive at our destination. Then we are flooded with experiences in the moment, and afterward, we have photos to remind us and memories to interpret our experience after the fact. We know that the remembered self is one of the most important reasons we do anything: how we’ll remember it. So why shouldn’t we consider it identifying the experience in its broadest sense? We talked about Jonathan’s meeting with Bob Cialdini and how Jonathan’s work with Bob’s crew brought incredible results to the initiatives they were working on at PayPal. We are always happy to see how nicely behavioral science and business results dovetail. And maybe most importantly, this episode features a live fingerstyle guitar micro-concert by Jonathan. We asked him about playing and he instantly turned around, grabbed his guitar, and started playing for us. His fingerstyle abilities are very fine, and that part of the recording was nothing short of delightful – in every aspect of the word. Enjoy it! We hope you enjoy our episode with Jonathan Mann and discover new ways that you can integrate his clever thinking on designing an experience into your own work. © 2021 Behavioral Grooves   Links Jonathan Mann LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jdmann/ Jonathan Mann Album: http://jonathanmanndesign.com/music (with links to Spotify, Pandora, iTunes, etc) Jonathan Mann YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVtiHkr4xdBzVZ6Oc3ybsUw Jonathan Mann Woodworking: https://www.behance.net/fynedesign Dan Gilbert, “Stumbling on Happiness”: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/56627.Stumbling_on_Happiness Robert Cialdini - Towel study: https://www.psychologicalscience.org/observer/dont-throw-in-the-towel-use-social-influence-research Common Biases and Heuristics: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XHpBr0VFcaT8wIUpr-9zMIb79dFMgOVFRxIZRybiftI/edit?usp=sharing The Dakota: https://www.dakotacooks.com/ Fingerstyle Guitar: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fingerstyle_guitar     Musical Links Green Day “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Soa3gO7tL-c Stone Temple Pilots “Interstate Love Song”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10MQY33cYCg Leo Kottke “Last Steam Train”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E_s4vQJx-k Tommy Emmanuel “Classical Gas”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S33tWZqXhnk The Jimi Hendrix Experience “Voodoo Child”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFfnlYbFEiE  

After months of projections and educated guesses, Dr. Julie Vogel and Dr. Gene Kerns from Renaissance Learning unpack COVID-19's impact on our students with real data from all around the country. What expectations were on the mark? Which ones were proven wrong? What are the next steps? Dr. Vogel is the Vice President of Catholic and Private Schools and Dr Kerns is the Chief Academic Officer. Go to https://www.renaissance.com to learn more.

Nicole Armstrong is the CEO of TechBridge,  an innovative 501(c)3 charitable, nonprofit organization with a mission to bring creative technology solutions from the robust IT business sector to the vast ecosystem of nonprofit agencies addressing homelessness, food insecurity, living-wage jobs programs, after school education and other critical impact areas. She is a seasoned business executive with more than two decades of experience and a series of successes with the public sector, large and mid-sized organizations, particularly focused on operations and emerging business strategies.  Prior to joining TechBridge, Nicole most recently served as Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Renaissance Learning, one of the nation's largest education technology companies. Prior to Renaissance, she was CEO and Co-Founder of Noodle Markets, K-12's first digital procurement platform, and national marketplace.  Nicole also served as President of CORE Education and Consulting Solutions (ECS), Inc., an Atlanta-based leading global education company providing assessments, interventions, and content solutions for districts and states serving Pre-K, K-12, Employability, Special Education, and Higher Education sectors.  Prior to CORE ECS, Nicole was the Senior Vice President of Client Services for Schoolnet, Inc. and Pearson Education.   Nicole holds a bachelor's degree with honors in Computer Science Engineering from Binghamton University's Watson School of Engineering and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Maryland University College with a master's degree in Business Administration. Chat Highlights How does your entrepreneurial experience in the for-profit sector inform your leadership at TechBridge? What are some top ways that technology innovation leads nonprofits towards exponential, social impact? Can you share some examples from the clients and technology projects you've been leading particularly in response to the pandemic? What call to action would you have for non-profit leaders when it comes to thinking about investing in new technology? Get In Touch Follow Nicole Armstrong on LinkedIn and visit TechBridge.org to discover ways you can support their community impact through technology innovation. About Our Sponsor This episode is brought to you by Inspiredu, a nonprofit organization that's bridging the digital divide by putting technology into the hands of underserved Atlanta communities. The need for technology devices and access has accelerated due to the pandemic and Inspiredu makes a positive impact on helping marginalized learners. Through its partners and supporters like you, they help students flourish into 21st-century scholars. Learn how you can support their mission at iuatl.org. Follow Inspiredu on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As long as school has included tests and grades, teachers have had to deal with dishonesty and plagiarism. With rapidly changing technology, however, come more and more novel and insidious ways to cheat. Amy and Mike invited education technology expert Gretchen Hanson to describe the evolving academic integrity arms race.  What are five things you will learn in this episode? What does academic integrity mean in the 21st century? How has cheating and plagiarism in education evolved? What tools are available to help educators enforce academic integrity? In what ways does technology both facilitate and betray cheating? What new forms of cheating and plagiarism lie ahead? MEET OUR GUESTS Gretchen Hanson has spent twenty years in the education industry, and is passionate about clarifying how technology can improve our education experience and promote our achievements. Her roles spanning a variety of top-tier organizations such as ProQuest, the University of Maryland System, Blackboard, Renaissance Learning, Parchment and Turnitin, have allowed her to get deep insights to the education system as students move from secondary to postsecondary. Gretchen loves to travel, just adopted a dog, was a serial student earning a Masters of Library Science & Information degree from University of Maryland College Park, and a BA from Brigham Young University. Find Gretchen at ghanson@turnitin.com. LINKS The Rise of Plagiarism: Contract Cheating RELATED EPISODES ACT SCORE REVIEW AND VALIDATION WHY TESTING STANDARDS MATTER BRINGING CRITICAL BALANCE TO HIGH SCHOOLERS’ LIVES ABOUT THIS PODCAST Tests and the Rest is THE college admissions industry podcast. Explore all of our episodes on the show page.

In this episode of “https://www.teachercast.net/episodes/ask-the-tech-coach/ (Ask the Tech Coach),” Jeff and Susan welcome Zak Ringelstein to discuss how to incorporate project-based learning in the classroom during this season we are in dealing with Covid and its impact on education. We talk about what PBL looks like in a hybrid situation and making it engaging for students whether face to face or virtual.   If you are a new listener to TeacherCast, we would love to hear from you. Please visit our http://teachercast.net/contact (Contact Page) and let us know how we can help you today. Join the TeacherCast Tech Coaches Network!Are you a Tech Coach or looking to become one this year? Are you searching for support in your position? The https://www.teachercast.net/TCNForm (TeacherCast Tech Coaches Network), is a brand new Professional Learning Network designed specifically for Tech Coaches and designed to provide weekly support for all Instructional Coaches. https://www.teachercast.net/TCNForm (Click Here to Join!) In Todays Episode, We DiscussWhat does Project Based Learning look like in a hybrid classroom? How do you create a long form engaging classroom environment with both physical and virtual students? How do you facilitate GOOD, ENGAGING learning wherever the students are? https://www.zigazoo.com/ (Zigazoo) - video activities encouraging project based activities design for all grade levels. Students are given a prompt and must demonstrate their learning via video. About our Guest: Zak RingelsteinZak Ringelstein is an elementary school teacher who exited his first edtech company, UClass, to Renaissance Learning in 2015 and founded his second, Zigazoo, this past March at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. TechCrunch has called Zigazoo the “TikTok” for education because it gives children the opportunity to share short videos in response to project-based learning prompts. Ringelstein graduated from Columbia University in 2008, was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2015, was the first millennial to be a major party nominee for U.S. Senate in 2018, and is currently doing doctoral work at Columbia University’s Teachers College. He and his wife, Leah, have two boys and another due any day. About ZigazooZigazoo gives teachers and pod leaders the tools to assign projects tailor-made for at-home learning and engage students in peer-to-peer video sharing. Teachers assign Zigazoo projects or build their own, then students respond with short videos of their work and engage on an endless social media-style feed of endless learning fun. Company Profile and links Website: https://www.zigazoo.com/ (https://www.zigazoo.com/) Apple App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zigazoo/id1506092240 (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zigazoo/id1506092240) https://apps.apple.com/us/app/zigazoo/id1506092240 ( ) Google Play Store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zigazoo.zigazoo (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zigazoo.zigazoo) Contact the Podcast!http://www.teachercast.net/VoiceMail (www.TeacherCast.net/VoiceMail) Twitter: http://twitter.com/askthetechcoach (@AskTheTechCoach) Email: feedback@teachercast.net  https://pages.convertkit.com/84a156e499/1287317c40 (FREE EBOOK 40 Chrome Extensions Every Tech Coach Should Know)Follow our PodcastThe TeacherCast Educational Broadcasting Network | http://www.twitter.com/teachercast (@TeacherCast) Ask the Tech Coach Podcast | http://www.twitter.com/askthetechcoach (@AsktheTechCoach) Follow our HostsJeff Bradbury | http://www.twitter.com/jeffbradbury (@JeffBradbury) Susan Vincentz | https://twitter.com/sv314dws (@sv314dws) Join our PLNAre you enjoying the TeacherCast Network, please share your thoughts with the world by https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ask-the-tech-coach-the-teachercast-educational-network/id1067586243?mt=2 (commenting on iTunes) today? I enjoy reading and sharing your comments on the podcast each...

When Din Heiman, SVP of Strategy at Renaissance Learning, first posted his thoughts on the edtech industry’s responsibility to respond to the current education crisis, he expected to spark a conversation. 20,000 LinkedIn views later, his provocative thoughts, plus the contributions from others, have created a blueprint for future remote learning success.Marketscale contributor and Remote Possibilities podcast host Kevin Hogan discusses Heiman’s extraordinary message with him and breaks down some of the specific suggestions he offers directly to edtech leaders. These include:Survive. You probably don’t want to be surprised in the midst of a crisis to discover your solution doesn’t effectively scale after all. Or that your cash situation can’t bear the expenses created by spiking usage. At the extreme, the last thing you can afford is to see your company collapse — precisely when your customers (not to speak of your employees) rely on you the most. Think about that in the context of both your existing business model, and any immediate changes or campaigns you are considering.Parents aren’t stakeholders. No matter what your specific offering is or who you sell to, start considering parents (a.k.a. #AccidentalHomeschoolers) as customers. Just because they aren’t students doesn’t mean you can treat them as teachers. Consider factors like ease of use, lack of professional training, methods of communication, reality of working parent/s… Consider whether your offerings are tailored and curated enough, or just adding to an already daunting pile. Don’t assume it’s for the teacher alone, much less principal or administrator, to bridge between your offerings and parents. They themselves have plenty on their plate. If you can’t get your offerings to an appropriate level of simplicity, factor in extra capacity for layperson support.You’re in the equity business. Yes, you. This one may be the hardest for many of us to fathom. If you’re not actively planning for decreasing equity gaps, you’re liable to be inadvertently increasing them. Do your plans account for the needs of different populations of special learners? Do they factor in English learners (whether students or parents)? Do your offerings work across devices? Without devices? In different bandwidth situations? Do they inadvertently contribute to stress, or alleviate it? Can you identify in advance any other unintended consequences of your plan, and if so what can you do to prevent them?

What are the biggest challenges in building a distributed team as a startup? Today we discuss how to Hire, build process and lead in a distributed model. We will learn that uncovering the right people hinges on the Individual's desire and their emotional intelligence. Today’s Quote: “Completing one another is more important than competing with one another." - John C. Maxwell Show Guest: Mark Angel is the CEO and Co-founder of Amira Learning, the company reinventing learning to read with AI.  Amira is a rapidly growing, venture-funded startup bringing the first intelligent reading assistant into K-3 classrooms. Mark formerly served as Chief Technology Officer at Renaissance Learning, where he led the R&D organization and worked on the two most successful reading apps in the United States – Accelerated Reader and STAR.  He has worked for 30 years in the Silicon Valley as a CEO, CTO and General Manager for innovators in the realm of Artificial Intelligence and Natural Language Processing (Ernst & Young, Nuance, KANA Software). Mr. Angel is the founder of three successful start-ups.  He is a chief inventor on more than 10 patents in the areas of search. Episode Highlights: The Story of the Challenges faced when building a distributed company 3 biggest issues you struggled with Tools & solutions that worked best for your team Problem: Challenges in Hiring a Distributed Team: Hire for the distributed model Learn to screen for people who are truly able to function in a distributed environment People not really self-aware. Build process around the distributed model; Challenge: creating infrastructure and culture of behavior to help people to collaborate Choices in tooling that turned out to be wrong Have to "servant-lead" for the distributed model. What issues have we struggled with around hiring? Where they will Thrive!   People are not self-aware around work mode… The focus seems to be around the technologies they want to use or the comp they want.   Discuss the Model Need to put the issue up front before people get excited about the rest of the story and fool themselves and consequently us Core Values alignment We need to be conscious that some folks like talking/collaborating and for others, it’s not the most pleasant part of the day.  We aren't going to change a leopard’s spots. Creating a situation where there is a balance of work and not having too many meetings. Keeping people in a place where they are getting constructive work behavior. Getting that work done but also helping others to get the work done. People are happiest when you find the “groove”. Rick’s Challenges An issue of Upfront Expectations alignment Continually ask “Why”  Solutions What have we done about this? Put this issue front & center in the interviewing process Getting out of the skills-based mindset. Screening - needed to find people who are able to cope with the nature of the model. Intentional about the need for people who are wired to work in a distributed environment. -talk about the distributed issue up front. Hired a recruiting expert Learned to screen for being at least somewhat "outgoing" and "opinionated" "Servant-leadership" for the distributed model. How do we manage work? Baking collaboration into everyday environment. Tools like google suite/slack/zoom/github/atlassian -- basically emphasis is on creating the norms around the tools. Understand when they should be using the tools Slack, Zoom, Gmail suite,  Google docs works really well, hangouts did not for them. tools around design thinking. Set of heuristics and norms around the tools. Allow people Flexibility Work at home or at Wework, Techspace What went right & wrong in the process? right -- took a "team experiment" approach right -- recognized they needed help & hired an expert wrong -- didn’t push hard enough to create norms Rick’s first step Take the time to understand a person’s desires before you “Pitch” the company People will tell you what they want. You just have to ask. "If you could design your ideal company, what would that look like for you?" A company where you will Thrive! Key Takeaways: Hire people who are self-aware - Hire for EQ & cultural fit first Experiment with popular tools to find the tools that “best fit" for your team Recognize you are fighting human nature and hire to overcome

Today, Tom sits down with Gene Kerns, Vice President and Chief Academic Officer at Renaissance Learning, to discuss his recently published book Unlocking Student Talent: The New Science of Developing Expertise. The book is based on the growing body of evidence around purposeful practice and implications for K12 education and is made up of three main sections: student engagement, how deliberate practices can be incorporated into general education, and the process of developing independent learners.   Throughout today's episode, Gene and Tom discuss each section of the book in-depth, covering topics such as: coaching for excellence, the importance of motivation when it comes to deliberate practice, bringing purposeful practice back to education, striving for higher levels of expertise, and Gene's recommendations for implementing deliberate practice from the elementary to the high school level.   Key Takeaways: [1:42] Where Gene first began teaching. [2:05] Educational Leadership: The focus of Gene's studies at Delaware. [2:33] How Gene became Chief Academic Officer at Renaissance Learning. [6:00] When Gene's interest in deliberate practice formed. [8:00] Gene's goal when creating his book: bringing purposeful practice to education. [9:55] What Gene learned about deliberate practice, motivation, and striving for higher levels of expertise while writing his book. [12:50] Diving into the second section of the book: Gene summarizes what he learned about practice and its role in education. [14:45] The importance of coaching deliberate practice. [17:20] The challenge of gathering a deeper understanding of each learner's motivational profile. [19:03] Helping teachers find the balance between ‘drill vs. scrimmage.' [22:31] The magic of myelin: Not just psychology; but biology. [25:03] Resistance, results, and the new term: reachfulness and its meaning. [27:40] The importance of recovery (between deliberate practice). [29:31] Gene's recommendations for deliberate practice from the elementary to the high school level. [32:34] Coaching for excellence: What it means in education. [34:25] The importance of student agency. [36:52] The implications for Gene and Renaissance as a result of writing his book. [39:47] It's all about feedback: The importance of providing feedback to teachers and learners to improve performance. [41:17] Where to learn more about the work Gene is doing.   Mentioned in This Episode: Renaissance Learning Unlocking Student Talent: The New Science of Developing Expertise, by Gene Kerns Outliers: The Story of Success, by Malcolm Gladwell The Talent Code: Greatness Isn't Born. It's Grown. Here's How., by Daniel Coyle Talent Is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else, by Geoff Colvin Anders Ericsson Brainology (Carol Dweck) When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, by Daniel Pink Steven Pinker Doug Lemov Mike Schmoker   Get Involved: Check out the blog at GettingSmart.com. Find the Getting Smart Podcast on iTunes, leave a review and subscribe.   Is There Somebody You've Been Wanting to Learn From or a Topic You'd Like Covered? To get in contact: Email Jessica@GettingSmart.com, Tweet @Getting_Smart, or leave a review. The Getting Smart team will be sure to add them to their list!

Joining us for today’s show is Todd Jones, an executive sales operations leader who knows how to support aggressive revenue growth. Today’s topic is focused on how Sales Operations improves the efficiency of the sales force.  During our discussion, Todd and I leverage our workbook, so flip to the Sales Operations phase on page 314 of the PDF to follow along. [p] Our guest today is Todd Jones, the Vice President of Sales Operations and Enablement at Renaissance Learning. Renaissance is the leader in the education software space, a SaaS based offering, providing a learning assessment and development platform to the K-12 market education market. Todd is going to demonstrate how to improve the efficiency of the sales team. [p] Todd is uniquely qualified to speak on this topic of sales operations.  His background spans all aspects of sales, sales operations, enablement, and business management. Todd has more than 25 years of experience in sales operation leadership positions from marquee names within the technology space such as NetApp, QLogic, Symantec and now Renaissance Learning. Why this topic on this day? Sales ops has become a catch all phrase. The sales ops leader gets assigned all the work no one else wants to do. Often underfunded and understaffed, sales operations leaders fail to deliver a meaningful revenue contribution. Yet, the best growth executives understand that sales ops is the most strategic sales function in the entire company. They understand that when deployed correctly, sales ops can impact revenue growth in a very meaningful way. Do not starve this vital department. If you do you're going to miss your revenue goal. [p] Listen as Todd demonstrates how to improve the efficiency of the sales team.  We begin the show discussing the business outcomes a sales operation team needs to deliver.  Todd describes top-line growth and profitability as the number one priorities both within sales operations and the organization at large. The primary objective within sales operations is focusing on the skills development, the sales effectiveness, and ultimately driving the productivity and capacity of selling resources. Todd shares, “Sales operations often can be what I would categorize as the dumping ground for all things that need to be addressed, or challenges within the organization. As I entered the function here at Renaissance, I think as important as it is to understand what we will do, equally important to understand what we will not do to avoid becoming that dumping ground.” The strategic areas of focus for any best-in-class sales operations organization are really quite simple. Focus on the re-engineering alignment design of core sales processes, the system capabilities, and automation tools that align in support of those processes. Define a clear business management process and operational cadence that supports the objectives of the organization. The business management process covers how we operate, how we function as a sales organization, how we lead, inspect, and deliver on those commitments to the company. Ensure the coverage model and compensation plan for the sellers to take to market and manage their book of business are clear, well-defined, and aligned across the company. Listen as Todd describes his forecasting process.  It’s tight and stage-gated. If you're struggling with forecasting accuracy, make sure to take notes while you listen to what Todd shares about his process and you'll receive tremendous value.  

At SXSWedu 2017, Renaissance Learning, the billion dollar education analytics platform (founded in 1984 in central Wisconsin) announced the reorganization of its various math, literacy, and assessment products into the Renaissance Growth Platform. We had the chance to sit down with Mike Evans, CFO and interim CEO of Renaissance Learning, at SXSWedu to learn more through a short interview. Music: Giving Tree by Podington Bear, licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 International License. http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Podington_Bear/Daydream/Giving_Tree_1206

Episode #2: Three friends embark on an idealistic adventure to marry technology, purpose and profit in the world of K-12 education. Featuring Varun Gulati (SEAS '10) and Chris Yim (CC '10) of uClass (acquired by Renaissance Learning).

U.S. high school graduates reading at grade 6/7 level. Math skills grade 8 level. Universities are accommodating this. Today's high school grads would be lost dealing with text books written in 1970. How are things in Canada? And how's this social promotion thing working out? Guests: Prof. Sandra Stotsky. Univ of Arkansas. "we are spending billions of dollars trying to send students to college and maintain them there when, on average, they read at about the grade 6 or 7 level. Remaissance Learning's latest report) Universities are, according to the Renaissance Learning report, accommodating the inferior reading and math skills of high school graduates. How serious is this situation in Canada? Guest: Professor Ken Coates. Canada Research Chair, Regional Innovation, Johnson-Shoyama Graduate School of Public Policy. Univ of Saskatchewan. Co-author, Campus Confidential. Controversial book about challenges facing universities. Guest: Michael Zwaagstra. AIMS Fellow in Common Sense Education. Manitoba high school teacher and co-author of What's Wrong With Our Schools and How We Can Fix Them. Has a column in the Province newspaper today in Vancouver titled: "It's time to expel the 'no zeros' grading policies.' See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Manish Kothari was co-founder of AlphaSmart Inc, an education technology company that he helped build into a $40MM business. He  was part of the executive team during AlphaSmart’s IPO (NASDAQ: ALSM) in   2004, and the subsequent acquisition by Renaissance Learning in 2005.   He was also co-founder of Root-1, Inc. which was acquired by Edmodo which provides students and teachers a free and easy way to connect and collaborate.   Watch Full Video>> http://www.inspiredinsider.com/manish-kothari-alphasmart-interview/